- Care home
Highbury Nursing Home
Assessment report published 30 October 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 16 September to 23 October 2026. The assessment was conducted to review the progress made by the service since our previous assessment. Highbury Nursing Home provides nursing and personal care for older adults, some of whom are living with dementia. The home has the capacity to accommodate 38 people. At the time of our assessment 23 people were living at the service. The home is comprised of 3 floors. People have their own bedrooms, some of which have ensuite facilities, some have shared bathroom facilities. There is a large, shared lounge and dining area on the ground floor and a private garden area. At the time of our assessment there had been problems with the lift, and it had been out of service for periods of time during the summer. Lounge areas had been created on the upper to floors to account for this. The lift was working at the time of our visit. However further work was planned, therefore the temporary lounge areas on the upper floors had been retained for this purpose.
We found the home environment was safe, clean and clutter free. Systems were in place to ensure people were supported by suitable numbers of experienced and trained staff. People were supported by safe and effective medicines management systems. Staff understood how to identify and respond to safeguarding concerns, which were investigated appropriately by the registered manager. At our previous assessment of the service, we had found the provider to be in breach of regulations relating to safe and effective care, and systems to protect people from the risk of abuse and neglect. At this assessment we found significant improvements in these areas and the service was no longer in breach of these regulations.
People’s care documentation was person centred and contained a good level of detail about their health needs, wishes and preferences. Staff worked together well and worked alongside other external services to support people with any changes in their care needs. At our last assessment the provider was in breach of regulation with regard to seeking consent from people. This was because a CCTV system had been installed in people’s home without consulting with them or seeking their consent. At this assessment the CCTV had been decommissioned and the cameras removed. We found that people’s rights and decisions around consent were understood by staff and respected. The provider was no longer in breach of this regulation.
At our last assessment the provider was in breach of regulation in relation to the quality of systems in place to monitor the safety and effectiveness of care provided. At this assessment we saw significant improvements. A robust system had been developed to support the management and staff team to conduct the checks and analysis needed to identify concerns and respond appropriately. Learning and improvement were central to these systems and had resulted in safer and better quality care for people. The service was no longer in breach of this regulation.
People's experience of this service
During our assessment we spoke with some of the people living at the service. An expert by experience spoke with some of the loved ones of people living at the service. At the time of our assessment some people living there could not easily communicate with us about their experiences. We made observations of care interactions, reviewed people’s care documentation and spoke with some people’s loved ones. This helped us gain insight into people’s experiences of living in the home. We also spoke with staff about to care they provided to people.
Overall people we spoke with told us they felt safe and most of their relatives told us they felt their loved ones were safe. People and their loved ones were happy with the support provided to help them maintain good personal hygiene and described the home as clean and tidy. People told us they were happy with the support they received to take their medicines safely.
Most relatives we spoke with told us they were happy with the information communicated to them. They told us they were kept updated and informed about their loved one’s care needs.
People spoke positively about the staff team and we saw good interactions between people and staff. Staff we spoke with knew about people’s individual needs, health risks and preferences and understood how they wanted to be supported.
People told us they felt there were enough staff to support them well and relatives did not express any concerns about the numbers of staff on duty.
People said the meals and snacks provided were good, and they were happy with the choices of food and drinks available to them.
People told us they were able to see their doctor when they needed to and were supported to see the dentist, optician and attend hospital appointments as needed.
People spoke positively about the management team. There was some confusion amongst some of the relatives we spoke with about who occupied which role within the management team. However, no relatives reported concerns about being unable to contact or speak to managers when they needed to.